Howard Frank: In a flash, the sign is trash

Sunday

Nov 14, 2010 at 12:01 AM

For the second time in a week, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation replaced a smashed directional sign at the entrance of Interstate 80 east at Route 715. We've reported on this difficult spot in recent stories and columns.

Didn't someone once say if we don't learn from history, we are destined to put up more signs?

For the second time in a week, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation replaced a smashed directional sign at the entrance of Interstate 80 east at Route 715. We've reported on this difficult spot in recent stories and columns.

But don't fault road design — blame immigration. But more on that in a second.

The sign is anchored to the center divider separating the entrance and exit ramps from I-80 east. For motorists traveling south on Route 715, it's impossible to see the ramp before you turn left to get onto I-80 east. The road slopes away from the entrance.

You don't have to be under the influence to turn into the adjoining exit ramp. We sent a photographer there two weeks ago. In 30 minutes, he snapped a shot of a car entering the exit ramp, just seconds away from a narrowly averted disaster.

"How exactly do you watch a road you can't see?" mused PoconoRecord.com forum member RebeccaDogLover. "Maybe there's more problems with more people now, but this spot has been a problem since it was first built, so it IS PennDOT's fault, and their responsibility to fix it."

The Pocono Record noticed PennDOT would be doing sign work on Route 715 in the area Friday, so we sent a photographer to check it out. What did we find? Lo and behold, the directional "Keep Right" sign was flattened again, just like it was last week.

PennDOT spokesman Ron Young said the sign frequently gets hit, usually by tractor-trailers. "Our maintenance folks said it gets hit roughly once every two-three weeks," he said.

It has to be tractor-trailers, he said. It's the only vehicle long enough to knock down the sign.

A third-grader with a Hot Wheels could knock down that sign.

Forum readers weighed in with their own ideas. My favorite? The charming "deportation strategy."

JackRubyBaby wrote: "Hey Mr. Frank...if street lights is what you want, maybe you should head back east where you came from."

Junie Moon wrote: "When we all learned how to drive, we were taught to drive on the right side of the road. When driving you always have your yellow line on the left and your white line on your right."

Distracted driving was another theme.

"The problem here is not the signage in the area but un-attentive drivers," wrote Dennis Edward DiGiacomo. "If people would put their cell phones and lattes down while driving we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

I know that's not my problem. I hate latte.

It costs PennDOT a little under $200 to replace the sign each time it goes down. Those are direct costs. But PennDOT's massive organization probably adds administrative overhead that could multiply the real cost by several times.

The fallen signs are an obvious clue that something is wrong here. It doesn't take an engineering degree to realize that. And the annual direct cost for replacing the sign — about $5,000 — itself justifies further investigation.